"One should either write ruthlessly what one believes to be the truth, or else shut up." — Arthur Koestler

[S]ome Newsweek staffers . . . describe the mood as ranging from stunned to funereal to angry — the latter emotion fueled by a sense that Editor Jon Meacham erred badly by transforming the newsweekly into an upscale, left-leaning opinion magazine. Meacham has said that in the face of mounting losses — $44 million since 2007 — he had no choice but to seek fewer subscribers who would be willing to pay more.
On one level, the situation is a paradox. Here you have a magazine loaded with talent . . . and few seem willing to bet on its financial future. That amounts to a no-confidence vote not just on the category of newsweeklies, which have long been squeezed between daily papers and in-depth monthlies, but on print journalism itself. The lucrative properties these days are digital, and Newsweek’s Web site has long been a flop, both creatively and commercially. . . .
The result is a conventional wisdom, to use a phrase popularized by Newsweek, that the magazine smells like a loser.

Brilliant — losing $44 million to produce a liberal opinion magazine. Because, according to Meacham’s theory, people would pay more for liberal opinions than for news.

It takes a special kind of stupid to think that way — if you can call that “thinking.”

Comments

33 Responses to “News, Weak”

Estragon June 8th, 2010 @ 6:03 am

Why expect Meacham’s thinking on business strategy to be less stupid than his thinking on anything else? From shortly after he took the helm, he already steered the magazine sharply to the left, and proceeded to drive it to the edge of bankruptcy.

So, if THAT didn’t work, to a stupid leftist the obvious solution was to get rid of the pretense of any objectivity or straight reporting and dive full-length into premium leftist opinion.

As NW circles the bowl, let’s remember to flush twice – we want to make sure it all goes down. How embarrassing if a guest should come over and find Evan Thomas still a floater . . .

Estragon June 8th, 2010 @ 6:03 am

Why expect Meacham’s thinking on business strategy to be less stupid than his thinking on anything else? From shortly after he took the helm, he already steered the magazine sharply to the left, and proceeded to drive it to the edge of bankruptcy.

So, if THAT didn’t work, to a stupid leftist the obvious solution was to get rid of the pretense of any objectivity or straight reporting and dive full-length into premium leftist opinion.

As NW circles the bowl, let’s remember to flush twice – we want to make sure it all goes down. How embarrassing if a guest should come over and find Evan Thomas still a floater . . .

Estragon June 8th, 2010 @ 2:03 am

Why expect Meacham’s thinking on business strategy to be less stupid than his thinking on anything else? From shortly after he took the helm, he already steered the magazine sharply to the left, and proceeded to drive it to the edge of bankruptcy.

So, if THAT didn’t work, to a stupid leftist the obvious solution was to get rid of the pretense of any objectivity or straight reporting and dive full-length into premium leftist opinion.